Boston Marathon bombing suspect wanted to be U.S. Olympic boxer

One of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing who was killed in a shootout with police early Friday morning was trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic boxing team, according to a photo essay titled “Will Box for Passport” that was posted a few years ago and dug up by several media sites.

The suspects were identified by law enforcement officials and a family member as Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, brothers from a Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.

In the essay, it was noted that Tamerlan studied at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston and wanted to become an engineer. The 26-year-old told the photographer he hoped to win enough fights to compete for the U.S. Olympic Team, but also said he did not have a single American friend because he did not understand them. The photo essay also features a number of photos of Tamerlan and his then-girlfriend.

“If he wins enough fights… Tamerlan says he could be selected for the U.S. Olympic team and be naturalized American,” the essay reads. “Unless his native Chechnya becomes independent, Tamerlan says he would rather compete for the United States than for Russia.”

Another story in the Lowell Sun from 2010 says he was given the “prestigious” Rocky Marciano trophy for being the heavyweight champion.

Tamerlan, known to the FBI as Suspect No. 1 and seen in surveillance footage in a black baseball cap, was killed in a gun battle with police in Massachusetts overnight, officials said. His 19-year-old brother — dubbed as Suspect No. 2 and seen wearing a white, backwards baseball cap in the images from Monday’s deadly bombing at the marathon finish line — escaped.

The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.

In Boston, authorities suspended all mass transit and urged close to a million people in all of Boston and some of its suburbs to stay indoors as they searched for the remaining suspect, a man Businesses were asked not to open Friday. People waiting at bus and subway stops were told to go home.

“We believe this man to be a terrorist,” said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. “We believe this to be a man who’s come here to kill people.”

The endgame — at least for Suspect No. 1 — came just hours after the FBI released photos and video of the two young men at the marathon finish line and appealed to the public for help in identifying and capturing them. Tips came pouring in to the FBI immediately but exactly how authorities managed to close in on the two young men was not immediately disclosed.

The mens’ uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Md., told The Associated Press that the men lived together near Boston and have been in the United States for about a decade. They travelled here together from the Russian region near Chechnya.

The White House said President Barack Obama was being briefed on developments overnight by Lisa Monaco, his assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism.

The suspects’ clashes with police began only a few hours after the FBI released photos and videos of the two young men, who were seen carrying backpacks as they mingled among marathon revelers. The bombings on Monday killed three people and wounded more than 180 others, and authorities revealed the images to enlist the public’s help finding the suspects.

The images released by the FBI depict two young men, each wearing a baseball cap, walking one behind the other near the finish line. Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge in Boston, said the suspect in the white hat was seen setting down a bag at the site of the second of two deadly explosions.